Los Angeles City Councilman John Lee Monday gathered with officials in the Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino chambers of commerce of Los Angeles and California to denounce the increase in hate crimes against the Asian American-Pacific Islander community and encourage people to report any hate incident to the police.
“There’s a heightened fear here in Southern California, where we have such a large Asian American population, one of the largest in America,” he said. “The fear is truly palpable, especially for Asian American business owners and employees who wonder when this hate will show up at their doorsteps.”
Lee added that he was hopeful, because as a result of the increase in hate crimes, the community has been galvanized in a way he has never seen before.
“We cannot allow this effort to die down. We cannot be quiet about the injustices that happen to our community or to any other community … and that change begins with all of us.”
Lee said he plans to speak with the nation’s Asian American leaders to discuss how to use the momentum to create positive change for the Asian American-Pacific Islander community.
Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Blake Chow urged people to report any form of hate witnessed or committed against them, even if the hate does not rise to the level of a crime. The department is developing a hate crime pamphlet that will be translated into Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai and given out to the community to spread the word about reporting.
Hate incidents, such as someone “uttering a derogatory name against another individual,” should still be reported to police, Chow said.
“I think a lot of people out there might think ‘well why do I need to report it if it wasn’t really a crime,’ well we need you to report it,” he said.
“We need to know what’s going on in the city, we also really need to identify people who are potential victims of hate incidents because we have ways of directing them towards services in the community that can help out from a different perspective.”
Chow also said that reporting hate incidents can help officers solve hate crimes committed by the same person. For people who witness hate incidents that happen to others, Chow urged them to “be good witnesses” and record the incident on their cell phone.
Rosalyn Vasquez, president of the Thai American Chamber of Commerce of California, also urged Asian Americans to report any incidents that happen to them.
“I think a real problem has been the underreporting, and in our community, specifically in the Asian community, we’re always trying to be considerate of other people, considerate of the resources of our government,” she said.
“I always thought myself, if you weren’t physically hurt then you really don’t have anything to report, and now we’re trying to get the word out that you need to report every incident.”
Hate crimes against Los Angeles’ Asian American-Pacific Islander community increased by 114% in 2020, L.A. Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department Executive Director Capri Maddox said last Friday.